Rose Tierney and her husband Bill are successful writers, picking apart films and enlightening the masses.They are invited to New York to talk business and get invited to a party where one of the guests, a quiet Diana, is interested in the occult. Bill has a tarot card reading and dismisses it out of hand, but when it’s Rose’s turn, it sparks something in her.That night, she has an odd … she has an odd out-of-body experience and is attacked by an unknown force.
Diana, through a premonition, found Rose and helped her back to her apartment to recover. The assault seems to waken her dormant psychic powers, and Diana excitedly encourages Rose to pursue them, to learn how to master them.
Rose quickly begins experiencing premonitions and discovers that her self can leave her body, later discovering all the intricacies of astral projection.
At first frightened by her newfound powers, she soon begins to explore, both her own abilities and the world that they belong to.
She soon discovers that her sinister feeling greenhouse, Hitler and the Nazis, and her quiet hometown all seem to have something in common. As her powers grow, her relationships with those around her grow increasingly turbulent.
Rose Tierney is no longer alone in her own body, and her newfound powers belong not to her, but to that Other.
The evil seed that was planted in Rose twenty years ago is about to flower.
Praise for Ramsey Campbell
“Ramsey Campbell has written a novel using the Lovecraftian themes of survival, the occult, and the things which may live at the rim of the universe (or beyond it) in a way that seems to ring true for our time.” — Stephen King
Ramsey Campbell was born in 1946 in Liverpool, Merseyside where his mother supported him in his writing and creative pursuits. Growing up in post-war Liverpool provided the perfect backdrop for his taste for the more macabre literature. He’s lived there his whole life and over the years has built up a truly prolific portfolio of work that has deservedly cemented him as a leading figure within the genre.more
3.5 Stars, rounded up.
Yes the beginning was slow, as many other reviewers mentioned, but not in a dragging or boring way, at least not for me. I enjoyed the descriptive Liverpool segments, the Mersey Estuary, the countryside, I like Campbell’s way with those. The plot was a slow building descent into occult madness for Rose, the main character. I thought this book was a satisfying horror/supernatural read, with an appropriate pace and conclusion.
It was a different take on horror. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
This is a good book, but a little difficult for an American to read at times. There is nothing wrong with the book, it just uses locations, terms, and cultural references that I as an American was unfamiliar with. Overall, a very interesting book.
Gripping story with such a descriptive style, you feel immersed in Rose world
Ending was disappointing and too abrupt.
“Slow burn.” Took a lot to get to the real action. I was impatient so skipped some.
Boring
I love horror as a genre, so I am always looking for new authors and books. This one showed promise but fell far short of that promise. It was a bland book that I had to struggle to get through. The main characters inspire no emotion aside from mild disgust, and I had to force myself to care enough to turn the page. If you like horror or thrillers, I recommend you pass this one by as you will likely be as disappointed as I was.
Slow development and unsympathetic characters,
Very slow moving. After half way through I was done trying to read it. Could have been so much better. Very disappointing.
got about a third of the way through and put it down.
I did not find it interesting and the plot did not hold my attention. I could not get into the story line.
This book was an okay read. The character setup was pretty good, despite the intense relationship between husband and wife. The author does a great job at depicting scenes and crafting information flow, but the plot was very slow at unraveling and lacked the fundamental features that come with reading a horror book.
So slow. I couldn’t even finish the book.
I didn’t care for this book, nor for the style of writing. Too many similes. Seemed the author was trying so hard to write a descriptive scene that the plot got lost
There is virtually no plot. But the descriptions are amazing. The lack of plot, however, made it hard to end the book. In a way it does not end.